Carrion Crown

No Party Too Diverse

Log Entry by Takehiko

The adventurers Fedifensor, Levania, Leah, Silvie had returned from Horrorstone after hearing about the fate of the warden and the other prisoners and guards there from the spirit of the warden’s wife. They were going to be staying at Kendra’s home for the night. Upon arriving, the four had encountered a strange humanoid fox creature. He was a Kitsune from a distant land by the name of Takehiko. The professor’s daughter introduced him as a friend that had saved the professor’s life on one of his many expeditions.

After a pleasant evening and a well-deserved feast, the party members went to bed and took shifts keeping watch. The frog girl, Silvie, after narrowly deciding to neglect her duties during her watch, investigated a knock at the door. The lumbering horror that suddenly broke the door off of its hinges to get inside was none other than the reanimated corpse of the late professor. Silvie hurried to wake the others. The other adventurers came out of their room to meet the surprise threat, ill equipped due to the lack of preparation time. Leah hurried straight to Kendra’s room since the young woman had awoken from the loud noise of the door breaking and convinced her to stay put. It would have been a much more difficult to deal with situation if she were to see her dead father walking around.

Pulling together their resources, the group soon finished off the undead professor and managed to keep Kendra from seeing her father’s corpse, despite several close calls. Before the sun came up, the adventurers followed Fedifensor as he carried the corpse back to the graveyard. He gave the corpse a proper burial once again, the first being done by Father Grimburrow. Leah stayed behind to watch over Kendra at the house while the others watched the paladin give the professor his last rights.

The group decided to use the remaining hours of night to rest up for the next day. After daybreak, the group had to confess to Kendra that the house was attacked last night, but still kept the fact it was her undead father from her. After a rude awakening for Silvie, and an otherwise uneventful breakfast, the party left for Father Grimburrow‘s to shed some light on the mysterious reanimating of the professor’s corpse.

After a less than-helpful conversation regarding that particular topic, the party decided to investigate another matter brought to their attention by the long-winded preacher.

Upon arriving at the farm the five group members overheard the farmers at Billy Bob’s farm talking about the farm hand getting mauled by a rather large bear. Takehiko decided to use his shape changing abilities to appear as a human, not wanting the already over-excited farmers to start a panic. Fedifensor assured the group that they’d look into it and travelled to the location of the cave pointed out to them by the farmers.

After a series of pathetic attacks by Takehiko (Dang it. DX), the group managed to bring the angered young adult bear to a damaged state just as a much larger bear appeared. This one matched the farmer’s descriptions as the one that attacked the farmhand.

Silvie wanders around the house of the late Professor Lorrimor, looking for something to do one night after their investigation. She saw Leah writing in a book, at a desk in a communal area adjacent to their two rooms. Silvie thought to herself, “Hmmm, I have seen her writing in that book for a few nights now, isn’t that a spellbook? She must be preparing some crazy spells for the next day, I better stay out of her way hehe” She hops around with a little frog she had summoned, and suddenly stops. “But how could that be? I thought she said she was a sorcerer?”

Later that night, after Leah had tucked Perlivash in bed and her bedroom candles had been put out. Silvie waited for a few more moments and bounced near the table where the spell book lies. She looks around the room innocently, making sure she wasn’t been watched. “They all went to bed.” Silvie thought to herself. “Just a little look won’t harm anyone I guess…… right? Who knows? Maybe Leah has been lying to us this whole time?” Silvie hesitated, but not long until her curiosity took over. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a little frog, quickly touches the spellbook with it and ducks underneath the table. “Phew, nothing blew up heh.” She approaches the spell book again and turns to a random page……

24 Gozran 4710 AR

Dear Diary,

Dragons, what are they? What do they really look like and are they all evil? I was once told there were heroic acts by them in our recorded history, some even proven to be great allies with men, but the more I am trying to research about them, the more I wish mum had never told me I am not of her own on my 18th birthday. I know she is doing this for me and believes I have the right to know, it must’ve been hard for her too to see me go……

Today we came across a Wyvern. I am still learning Draconic and it doesn’t look like it wanted to have a chat with us. Of course we decided to run because I was told Wyverns are always aggressive and impatient, most of them simply can’t be bothered with the subtlety of diplomacy, and prefer to fight first. The Dragons thinks they are nothing more than primitive savages, lack style or wit and tends to look down upon these creatures. I just think he looks at me like I look at my lunch. So I guess I am not a dragon. A poor pony got taken away but better him than us I suppose……

“My name is Fedifensor. Yes, I know it’s a strange one. It means “Defender of the Faith.” My dad heard tales of this powerful Holy Avenger stolen by the githyanki that roam the Astral Plane. He spent years searching for it before finally abandoning the quest to marry my mom. Now when I get a sword I am going to name her “Lenore.” Len and I will carve out our legend throughout these lands. She will be my bride until I get old and retire. I’ll probably do that at 22 or 25.

Well today, the Z-Men were hired to aid some farmers with bear trouble. Two new heroes answered the call today in the midst of battle. Aramis, a ranger provided covering fire while I strove to keep the baby bear’s attacks focused on me. I did a really good job at that because after one particularly vicious claw attack I found myself prone on the ground. With heroic resolve, I returned to my feet. Standing over 6 feet tall, I secretly pride myself of being the team’s big man. This other new guy looks like a human tree with a hammer stuck to its trunk. He dispatched the first bear and we turned in unison to face a huge demonic bear.

The barbarian’s opening attack gained the demon spawn’s attention. A bite and shake felled the shaggy man tree. Inspired by his bravery, I knelt to reach my prone companion. A quick prayer and some of the barbarian’s wounds heal up. I deftly blocked the bear’s next attack with my shield. A strange cry bursting from his chest, the barbarian smashes the beast. This time it is the demon that falls and a fel spirit leaves the beast. Soon it too fell to the Z-men.

I wish life could be lived on the battlefield. Things are so much simpler there. Returning to town, I found myself haggling with Father G for supplies that we need to defend their town. I’m not looking to profit from their plight but these warriors are under my protection. I need money to get them the tools we need to do this job. I hate when the people we were hired to save get tight fisted and miserly. After all of us promised to go to church on Sunday, I secured a new hammer for my barbarian buddy. His child like delight at being able to hit bad ghosts almost bought a tear to my eye but I blamed it on the dusty musty store.

Better equipped, the Z-Men return to the prison to look for the Lopper and the rest of his ghost gang.

Our party was at the jail and investigating some rooms soon after they had just finished with a haunt from the previous log. The infirmary we investigated had a poltergeist. We decided not to confront the ethereal ghost presence and his flying scissors and scalpels, instead exploring the rest of the floor as we went back to the safe that we were trying to open from the previous visit to the prison.

Upon exploring the rest of the northern area of the jail, we came upon a mysterious lady in the restroom. There were no records of a female among the prisoners or staff that was there besides the warden’s wife. Who is she?

As a fairly new party member, I had a lot of pressure to make a good impression as I tried to offer my skills to aid the party in attempting to pick the lock on the safe. Unfortunately I failed. :/ Damn. Fedifensor smashed the safe and even though he damaged the potions and paperwork, we still got 500 gold pieces.

While a couple of the party members researched and looked through more documents in the offices, the rest of the party kept an ever vigilant watch as we took turns clearing the rubble from a staircase leading to the lower level of the prison.

I noticed a forest dragon in the distance landing and the rest of the people help fill in the blanks as to information about it. According to the mage’s deity, the party could defeat the dragon if they were to attempt, although it would be a difficult battle. The party voted to track down the dragon as they made their way into the woods.

Using my awesome tanking skills, despite being not armored for it. :/ …our party used our skills and tactics to down the wyrmling and O’ck got a skin from the dragon to sell and had some dragon steak…much to the chagrin of Liamedvye.

After that fight the party finally got to rest at the inn after a long day. It was a welcome sleep.

The party was woken rudely in the morning though by a scream. The paladin rushed to aid, always ready to help someone, even at the risk of harm to himself by not taking the time to get his armor ready. Luckily with the help of the mage, magic armor would have to do because of the time it would have taken to put on his armor. I went to the others’ rooms to wake them, but only a handful of us managed to make it out to the scene of the commotion.

I was the new one in town but from what the other party members told me, the dog that was killed by the statue that had a freshly painted letter on it was named Bingo and was a loved member of the community. I tried to keep my composure, but really my blood was boiling as I subtly clenched my hand into a fist. was killed another of the letters showing on the statue.

Farmer Gibbs was the one living at the housing we followed the tracks to from the statue. He was the only suspect we had whether or not he was framed by someone that hid a razor and leather bags that had been used to hold blood. Fedifensor take him forcibly to the sheriff and the sheriff confronted him. The sheriff had no choice but to take him into custody, given the evidence.

Bingo was his name-o. :( The party members that were available attended the burial for the town dog. I’m hoping we prove Gibbs was the one who did it…or find the real culprit soon. There seems to be a plague on this town and we’re the only adventurers that seem to be able to do something about it.

We were in a battle with Stirges and Flaming skeletons. Levaniah was a little preoccupied with something for the fight but despite the lack of a mage and ranger we did the best with what we had.

Eventually the frog girl druid, Sylvie was it?…was captured by some chains during the chaos. From what she had told us while unconscious she’d encountered a druid female that had told her that the rest of us had abandoned her for dead. She thought she was dead at first but she managed to see through the druid’s lies and defeated Father Charlatan or The Piper of Illmarsh in a battle of wills to the death. He had been controlling the illusion or something. Silvie appeared alive but unconscious from our side of her illusion but I’m just thankful she’s okay. If it was me that chains had grabbed, I fear the outcome would have been much more troublesome.

I’m still confused a little by everything that happened but the important thing is we defeated Father Charlatan and the Piper of Illmarsh so that’s two down, three to go.

Nearly everyone in the party had expended their spells during that trip to the prison…who would have thought we’d encounter two of the big bad five in one fight? I suspect we should be more prepared now that we know how dangerous things can be, but I digress.

The party, exhausted but victorious decided to retreat to Ms. Lorrimor’s residence for the night. I’ve been noticing the Inn owner gazing flirtatiously at O’ck. Methinks she may have a thing for him. O’ck doesn’t seem to notice or care, though. After our supper we retreated to our rooms and the night was uneventful for once.

A knock at the door during breakfast nearly caused me to drop my chopsticks. The party was a bit surprised from the sheriff. Telling us about farmer Gibs’ strange behavior in the jail from the night before. We didn’t think much about it at the time. The only one that had an idea on how to deal with it was someone skilled in religion and the occult. Fedifensor had a feeling it was related to the strange things going on in town, as did the rest of us I assumed. He instructed Sheriff Benjan Caeller to have someone take a look at Gibs…someone that was skilled with this sort of thing, Father Grimburrow.

We all went shopping after that. I didn’t buy anything but the party upgraded some of their gear; namely, our tank, Fedifensor. He’s pretty devoted to the protection of the party. I’m glad he’s on our side, though I think he could stand to lighten up a little.

After we prepared ourselves for another venture into the prison, we went first to the spirit of the Warden’s wife. Vesorianna informed us that her condition was improving with the removal of two of the five spirits that were endangering her existence. She also warned us that The Splatter Man’s reach extended beyond that of the prison walls. Fedifensor and I had the same idea…that was most likely what had caused the behavior of Farmer Gibs that night the sheriff was holding him. After departing from the warden’s wife, we made our way down the stairs where we had first encountered the flaming skeletons.

From my position in the party’s movement line I could see signs above the four doors that out of that room in the different directions. Fedifensor remembered what the others said but I wasn’t paying much attention, trying to focus on potential dangers that could occur at any moment. I made out a few words he said though.

South, I have the reaper.Nevermore South.East Hell’s Basement. LopperMosswater maurader.

Through a vote, we decided to go through the East chamber. It had seen better days. The damp cold had led to years of neglect and damage against the supporting beams in the mine-like cavern. The light was poor and I could see only a little better than the other more-human like companions with me.

O’ck went first into the larger cavern that the tunnel led out to. A knee deep pool of water hid an unknown danger that didn’t reveal itself until O’ck progressed forward. Frog off, Damnit. O.o We were worried Sylvie would run toward the water again. Frog girls and their love of water.

A water creature that looked like those in the stories of scary stories parents had told their children rose out of the shallow pool of water. It seemed almost impossible that it would have been able to fit in there. Nessie is what the party members called it. I had never seen a creature like it in my travels but it seemed to have some reputation. The creature tried to attack O’ck. However after I had thrown a shuriken at it, it was revealed to have an incorporeal body. The one time my attack has a chance to hit in who knows how long and it’s ineffective. :/

A magic weapon scroll was used by the paladin; making me consider to myself I may need to learn something about magic and its uses and maybe I should get one of those scrolls too…in cases of emergency like this.

After many moments in what seemed like a difficult battle I drew my bow and using the special arrows the party’s ranger usually used, I managed to strike a good arrow into its skull and things seemed to be going well…until Fedifensor made it pissy.

Pissy Nessie was coming at the party, striking wildly and even downing O’ck, our main damage dealer with his magic sword. Even laying on his back, the Half-Orc managed to get a second wind and swung his hammer from his prone position and struck the monster’s head as it came down to lunge at him. The critical strike was enough to silence the beast as his hammer practically took its head off.

Inserted drawing O’ck did.
The spirit of the monster was calmed in defeat and we got some sweet loot.

On the way back to the Inn, the journey was uneventful. When we got back to the Inn, O’ck was eating more dragon steak, something that he tried to get Miss Lorrimor to try but she turned down his offer. Still the way she looks at him isn’t very subtle.

I should really make sure to get on Sylvie’s good side and try to cheer her up. Not that she seems to need it. Our primary healer’s welfare should be priority only to that of the tanks. I’m hoping our next trip into Harrowstone goes just as well. Now I need to get to bed before my candle runs out of wax.

Brand new day. Well rested. The melee members of the group Fedifensor and O’ck were their usual blood-lust-motivated selves. The party seems to want to attack more undead, even though we need to do research at some point. I can’t say I blamed them. I too have a thirst for battle; having not done what I feel is my part in this group, I can only hope they do not see me as a burden.

Preparing to go back to the Prison, the arrows were given to me. I put them in them in my quiver and shouldered my short bow before following the rest of the group. Tensions grew high as we descended into the lower level of the prison.

We headed down the stairs and we headed to the west this time. The darkness didn’t allow for much to be seen, even in the torch light. Fedifensor and O’ck proceeded confidently through the darkness. I could see a bit farther with my Low-Light vision but it didn’t help since there wasn’t much to see other than a couple of doors before a portcullis.

The group decided to open the North door by vote and the paladin entered without hesitation into what appeared to be a guard room. The dank smell of a room long since forgotten filled my nostrils as I breathed in the air. I kept calm as I looked to the others.

We saw a winch in the corner of the room other than that it didn’t seem worth the time. The south room was quite a grisly sight. As we saw the skulls moving on the table, something was going down. O’ck and Fedifensor encountered the broken skulls and O’ck started off with his rage before the skulls got a chance to counter.

A fourth skull appeared and managed to strike O’ck after forming a ghostly arm and hammer, vanishing into thin air afterward. The skulls then advanced on the half-orc. They dealt a ton of damage it would seem as they laughed at him with a ghastly cackle.

Sylvie tried to heal a raged O’ck and failed.

I managed to acrobatic through the enemies with my awesome ninja skills (after using a hero point) without allowing them to attack while leaving myself temporarily open.

Attempts to smite the ghostly skull before it attacks Fedifensor this time and then disappears again after taking a ghostly fragment of the paladin’s skull.

Sylvie managed to heal O’ck for some points before I actually did damage. I hoped everyone was looking. :D

Fedifensor’s skull takes another hit from the ghost skull. Apparently a haunt since our weapons can’t touch it right now, staggering him.

Silvie cast defensively on O’ck and healed him for another low amount.

I attacked again and actually downed an enemy. I’m having a better time this time.

Another skull appeared from the pieces of the one we downed earlier. Damn.

Seems my bad luck has transferred to the healer.  Poor Sylvie. I think I may have to make this up to her somehow.

Fedifensor figures out the conditions regarding this current haunt.

O’ck circled the room and attacked from behind, missing and the skull goes for Fedifensor and he blocks it with his shield, a loud clang resounding throughout the room. Why do I have to have large ears. >.<

Sylvie touched the wall with her wand and the room sobbing from the wailing.

O’ck destroyed the last skull and then another one reforms just afterward.

Fedifensor used his wand against the wall. The moaning increased in distress and volume, putting my fur on end.

Sylvie touched the wall, hitting the haunt with a critical heal, destroying the haunt as the moaning stopped I shook my head and was happy to not have to hear that anymore. Mosswater Maurader. The identity of the mysterious body of the dwarf that was laying there on the cot when we first entered revealed.

Upon searching the room, I came across a secret opening in the wall with a mechanism. The party cheered me on as I disabled the device and opened a supply storage.

A lot of gear we were able to gather to sell. Making us 4800 gold pieces. Not bad, I’d have to say.

We moved to the cell block through the portcullis after opened by the paladin and barbarian.

At the back of the cells we found a room that contained the grisly image of something from nightmares. A dungeon was there with various torture devices.

Fedifensor rushed toward the iron maiden for some reason. I saw the iron maiden creak open. He shouted out he was going to save Kendra but I didn’t see it and the others surprised look. I sprinted after Fedifensor and ran ahead of him, moving faster than him due to my lighter armor. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I figured something was drawing him in. I was going to sacrifice myself for the party’s tank. He was moving into a trap, I felt sure of it. Fedifensor shoved me out of the way and rushed into the iron maiden. He shouted out as if in pain as he entered the apparatus. He came out a moment later and was fine.

Paladin realizes through religion wisdom that the room is tied into the haunt residing in the various instruments of torture that were housed inside of it.

The paladin wants to put the guard that was being tortured soul to rest but O’ck tried to smash the skull of the guard. O.o Things just got interesting. A strong amount of negative energy permeated between the paladin and half-orc barbarian. I’d rather not get involved. :/

The party smashes the items in the room and in doing so we destroyed the haunt possessing the room.

The body of Warden Hawkran was what we found as we destroyed the torture devices in that terrible room. We discovered he was completely tortured to death, most likely by the five monsters that were causing the innocent town these recent horrors…of which we’ve defeated three of them.

O’ck searches the body for items and Fedifensor is obviously more than upset at this. O’ck disgracefully gathers up the bones after tossing the badge to the paladin. He warns O’ck that there will be a discussion after this is settled. The paladin challenges the half-orc. O’ck doesn’t want to fight I don’t think but the paladin is obviously starting to attack him. It’s not my problem since neither of them are evil.

We head back to town and Fedifensor decides to get a different room I think I overheard him saying this to himself.

O’ck went off to talk to father Grimburrow to ask where he can bury the bones at the church. I’m not sure if he understands the concept of proper burials when it comes to humans.

I can only hope the tension between those two gets resolved in a civilized manner. It wouldn’t help for any of our party members to be missing a limb or two. :/ I’ll have to ask Sylvie later if the issues they have run deeper than what happened in that room of the dungeon.

No sign of O’ck the following morning of the huge disagreement between him and the paladin. Someone I didn’t recognize, Ms. Kravitz was her name according to the person nearest me I asked, visits and complains about some of the party members. She’s a little paranoid and saying stuff about O’ck organizing an attack against the town. She mentioned orcs and since he was half-orc, I was interested in finding out more about this. I didn’t want to believe he’d try attacking the town with a band of them…he didn’t seem the type. It was clear she was the town gossip. She amuses me.

Shortly after she left, we asked Kendra where we might find some research assistants, most of us not being the studious type. After talking amongst ourselves we determined which we can research. We can have Kendra help research Splatterman. Fedifensor and I don’t have the knowledge needed.
Kendra does the research at the prison while our party kept watch.

Professor Ferimor was his name…
Merging with a quarter-fox succubus that caused him to change his study to one of named obsession with a person’s link and what happened to that name of their name. He would spell his victim’s name one letter at a time until killing them in an intricate trap; much like a serial killer. The warden’s wife is the one whose name is being spelled on the statue, something I discovered only to learn the rest of the party had already figured it out. I guess that comes with the territory of joining a group of adventurers after they’ve been in the town for a few days already.

We check the side quest board and we see the sheriff needs investigating into Orcs that are gathering near town. The sheriff tells us about it and deputizes us under the insistence of Fedifensor. He might be an effective tank and adventurer, but sometimes I fear his compulsion to follow the rules might get in the way of completing something someday.

We determine the best course of action is spending the night at Kendra’s along with Fedifensor and Leah before checking into the Orc thing.

A commotion is happening outside after a woman screams and we go to investigate. People gathered around the gazebo as we see an R written in blood on it.
One of the farmers says they killed his sheep. That’s where the blood came from. Sherriff Caeller says the guy was locked up. They talked about the probability of a second accomplice. Fedifensor follows the farmer to his barn and from the looks of things the sheep’s head looks like it was hacked off by a dull blade or a weaker person, before it was bled out.

Fedifensor makes an urgent errand to the Messenger Office, sending out an emergency message to all of the Z-Men…wait…is that right?…Who names an adventuring group that…really? Anyway, he’s trying to rally the troops in no later than 2 days…running out of time on the name thing.

We follow the lead on the orcs for now and find their trail using my super ninja perception. XD
We follow the orc’s trail and we find ourselves in the grasslands once again facing an army of orcs.
We overhear a scouting party. Fedifensor and myself drew our bow and nodded to each other as we knocked arrows and both fired at the same time at two of the three orcs. The paladin’s arrow hit but I miss, hitting their huge WoW style shoulder pads. Leah cast shield on herself. “Damn, why do they have to have armor?” My second attack doesn’t fare much better as the next arrow bounces off one of their helmets.
Fedifensor comes to save me. Leah is shaking her head at me like I did something foolish. :/
I learned how to use abilities efficiently. I call out they’re very pissed as I go to the ground from a critical attack. From my barely conscious form I can hear the sounds of battle in the background. I hear Fedifensor battling against two monsters as eventually I hear a magic missile pierce the air and
It’s called kiting bro. Leah is awesome and kites while drawing there attention and I revive myself and use a potion to heal Fedifensor to health just before Leah topples the other two orcs. The four melee fighters are on the ground.

Fedifensor is pissed and comes back with a vengeance, his sword seemingly glowing. We finally defeated them and I got scolded by Leah. Her fiery temperament somehow causing me to become interested in her.

O’ck happens upon the party while we’re interrogating him.
Blood oath of vengeance on the town. Since their guard was killed by one of the town’s guards
Three challenges are taken according to O’ck’s translation.

The first is a race, O’ck manages to defeat his opponent using his superior abilities.

The second is a cave, fighting a dragon without armor and weapons. Fedifensor braves this challenge, using his stealth, he manages to sneak up on the dragon and defeat it using his guile.

The third is a fight against their champion, a well armored giant. This time I kept my distance as I felt Leah’s glares on the back of my neck, attacking from afar with my bow, the arrows bouncing harmlessly off.

With Fedifensor and O’ck attacking mercilessly against the giant monster our party eventually emerged victorious. As the oath stated, the orcs left the town without much fuss since we had completed the challenges and won. We then went to the Sheriff to give him the good news.

Still weary from the long walk back from the prison, Fedifensor leaned heavily against the door before lightly knocking with a mailed fist. “Father, it’s me, Fedifensor. I am really sorry to bother you this late. I have sinned and I will probably add to that sin and probably doom the entire town unless I can work this out.”

He replies, “Sure…sure. Come on in.”

It’s not dark yet, but it will soon be. One of the acolytes is busy lighting various candles and activating magically lit lanterns. The Father walks at a calm pace as he leads you to his office. He motions for you to sit down as he closes the door.

“What can I help you with, my son?”

Forgive me Father for I have sinned….and I plan to sin again. Everyone else is alright with it but I am still angry and I want to hit him. I don’t care if he kills me; I have no problem with dying for what I believe in. That goes with my job description.

We found the remains of the warden. I wanted to preserve the body to give to the wife and then do a proper burial. One of my party, O’ck the Barbarian, smashed the warden’s skull to dust. His wife was happy just to have his badge of office but a good man’s body was desecrated and I couldn’t stop it. I challenged the barbarian to a duel and he ignored me.

Besides being insulted, I find it hard to be kind to him. I understand that he is not that intelligent but what he did is still wrong. If either of us die in a duel, it makes it that much harder for your town to be protected. I am tempted to wait until its all over to call him out again but I fear if I keep that harboring in my spirit for that long, I will lose my paladinhood and become a mere fighter.

“I see.” Father Grimburrow leans back in his chair, stroking his chin. The light from the lantern on his desk provides a steady light that casts an eerie shadow of his profile against the wall. You almost did not believe it possible, but he looks even older in this light.

“Your feelings are natural, my son. You have seen wrong take place, and you wish to correct it. There is nothing wrong with that. However, what is important is how you treat these feelings. You see, the big one just acts of impulse. That is not the way of Pharasma’s disciples. We act in accordance with the will of her holiness, and the law of the land.”

“Your friend has desecrated the undead….and the undead of a hero, at that. While it’s certainly not the most grievous of sins, such behavior is uncivilized and unacceptable. I doubt you will convince the uncivilized one to make proper restitution of her holiness, but he will need to pay his debt to society. You should report the infraction to the good sheriff. I’m sure he will know how to best address this issue.

“in the mean time, my son, you have a decision to make. I understand that you have agreed to take this one into your group because of his prowess with a weapon. However, it is clear that his mindset is not like yours. While he seems innocent enough in his thinking, he methods are unpredictable and chaotic. Such souls can be lead by men, such as yourself, to perform deeds of good that can please the deities. However, it can be stressful and problematic when faced with their complete disregard for the traditions and ways we have been taught. This one, he is a powerful force, but you have to decide for yourself whether the ends, and the good he can do under your direction, justifies the means.

“I do not feel he is evil, however, just very chaotic in his way of thinking. As you ponder your direction, keep in mind that, perhaps, the Sunflower crossed his path with yours in order that, over time, you might show him a better way.”

“I will file my report with the Sheriff now. May the Great Head of the Church continue to shine through you as you display His light, glory and guidance in this town.” Tightening his armor, he begins to exit the sanctuary until he spies the door to the practice yard. His eyes bounce between the two doorways. “…Well, I guess I can file the report in a half an hour or so…”

O’ck sits at the campfire, munching on dragon jerky much to Leah’s consternation. To hear her muttering curses under her breath is exactly why he does it. In his other hand, a small ruby earring twirls. He is playing with it anxiously when suddenly the forest goes quiet for a second. Stepping out of the campfire is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen… He is momentarily shocked at how different she looks then when he last met her. Her golden hair is now flame red, twice as long and she is taller… Gone are her military armaments, they have been replaced by a sheer dress, staff and unwieldy heeled shoes that don’t seem to sink into the freshly muddy ground. She is wearing a single earring, a match for the one in O’ck’s hand.

O’ck’s surprise is gone quickly. “Milady, you came!”, he says in his best common, obviously making an extreme effort. Taking her by the hand, he leads her into the forest, talking all the way in Orcish. She nods at times as he tells his tales.

“Are you sure he is a good fit?”, Verla asks him once he is done. “You know that the Blue Ravens have high standards.”

“Metal-Man is good man, but sometimes he too good”, he slips into his usual broken common. “He right over there”, he says as he points towards a rock where the paladin is sitting, deep in thought.

“Thanks, O’ck. I’ll talk to him, if you’ll give us some privacy?” she asks. O’ck nods and heads back into the woods. She walks up to the paladin and clears her throat in order to get his attention. The paladin jumps in surprise and turns to face her, taking in her beauty, supreme confidence and evident power. He can’t help bowing.

Before he gets a chance to say anything, she smiles and says, “It’s nice to meet you, Metal-Man. My name is Verla and I am a representative of Forzega’s Blue Ravens. O’ck speaks highly of your prowess, and higher still of your honour.” She stalls any response from him and goes through her spiel of who the Blue Ravens are. “We are a guild of adventurers that have been tasked with investigating and closing portals that have been opening in our world and also, yours. We’re stretched really thin at the moment and we’re looking for people of the utmost morality to help us by defending he world, since we cannot be both here and defending our home at the same time.” She takes a quick breath, and continues. “We cannot guarantee you items of power to aid you at this time, but you’d receive the same considerations as we ourselves do. Knowledge is something we can offer now. Are you interested in being Galorian’s voice for the Blue Ravens?”, she asks and waits for his response.

Fedifensor looks around – thinking of the young heroes in his charge, the dashing ninja, the scrappy sorcerer, the daring ranger and many others. It has been hard getting the weapons and equipment that the party needs. No more begging clients for gear or haggling with townspeople. A tight smile peaks from his lips as the strange lady begins tapping a foot impatiently. I guess she thought my acceptance would be automatic. Life is never that simple or straightforward. Plus stalling might tune the arrogance down a notch. Additionally the support staff would be beneficial for his people. Finally it is being able to better help his world exceeds the cost of surrendering his team’s sovereignty. “Well, milady. We accept. You are joining with some of the bravest warriors I have ever met. Now let’s talk about how soon my people can get scrolls, arrows, potions, weapons and armor.” Stunned at his forwardness, Verla nervously twirls a red lock. “Milady, the Church is my first love. Even your beauty pales before that. Now let’s get to the matter at hand…”

Verla, feigned her shock, knowing full well how arrogant paladins can be. “The invitation is not extended to them. It is you we want, the rest are… unknown entities. O’ck does not trust them yet, and frankly, neither do I. We want a leader on this side, in O’ck’s adopted world, nothing else at the moment. You’d still need to prove yourself to us before we can just give you anything”, she finishes. “This is what we offer: you and O’ck find warriors and other would-be heroes to join our ranks, and supplies will follow, if you meet expectations.”

“So, let me get this straight. You want just me and not my team and we get none of the “Blue Raven perks” for putting our lives on the line and incidentally adding your enemies to our own. Oh, and by us taking your name we would be building your reputation and not our own. I vouch for every member of my team. If you can’t accept all of us than I will continue building our reputation in this land. I’ve already made a good start. How about you?"

She looks him over. “You fight your own battles, because of who you are, not who we tell you to be. If our own enemies were to come to your world, be sure that you would fight them on your own, without our help, much as we would fight yours, should they wreck havoc on ours. We’re not looking for beggars here, we’re looking for accomplished adventurers, people who know how to fend for themselves while still doing good in the world. The Blue Ravens have never received such handouts, and we don’t expect our chapter leaders to expect them either. You must be willing to fight evil wherever it stands, hides, or crawls, with or without the help of others. That is the courage of the Blue Ravens”, she says. She never really did mention any of the monetary perks of membership… all she mentioned was the aid of knowledge, other members and the possibility of cheaper goods, should the guild successfully build relationships with those that produce them. The fact that he assumed that membership was a monetary reward upset her, when she was simply putting out a hand in friendship. “Maybe he isn’t Blue Raven material, after all”, she quietly wonders to herself.

“Ok, no support personnel. No additional equipment access. For an organization that is unheard of in my world. I have committed my life to bringing justice to my land. This other realm has heroes even as we do here. Two can not walk together if they don’t agree. “Unfortunately milady, I will decline at the moment. When my team becomes better known and when their courage and deeds inspire the local villages, we might discuss this further. Until that time, I will continue doing what I am doing: saving lives in this realm and making long lasting changes one day at a time.”

“Fine”, she says, as she turns around and motions for O’ck to walk with her. “He’s impatient, arrogant and doesn’t have what we are looking for, unfortunately”, she tells him when she joins him in the woods again. “Without the will to rely on only himself, he is weak, as we can’t always be relied upon to be available in a pinch. You know how small we are.” This was said with a note of remorse, and loud enough for Fedifensor to hear, purposefully so.

Further into the woods, she stops and roots around in her bag, pulling out a gleaming mithral shield, a stunning Blue Raven depicted on the face of it. “This was to be our symbol here, this shield for the man brave enough to embody our ideals. But selfish was he!”, she says as she puts the heavily enchanted shield back in the bag, once again rooting around. A small pouch is produced next, full of golden rings similarly emblazoned with a Blue Raven. She hands one over to O’ck, which he puts on.

Verla hands O’ck a small pouch of items, which he takes from her without bothering to look into it. He smiles at her, a brutish, toothy smile. As she walks away, O’ck storms off into the woods and doesn’t go far before running into the paladin. “Lady is very good person, Metal-Man. She saved O’ck many years ago. Was different lady, but same lady, and lady is nice!”, he shouts and tosses the bag at the paladin, who catches it without thinking. Fuming, O’ck turns around and runs to catch up to his friend.

Fedifensor, stunned, looks in the bag. A dozen potion vials clink inside, alongside a wand, and a handful of scrolls. He cocks his head to the left and picks up the bag, gingerly returns it to Ock’s friend. “I disagree. Forging a team isn’t a sign of weakness, its one of humility. I know that I can not defeat the foes that we face in my own strength.” Squaring his shoulders, the young Paladin straightens before assuming parade rest. “However, given time, temperance and persistence – these youth that stand before you will not always be wet behind the ears. We will work, cry, pray and play as a team. And when this darkness that you speak of comes to this land – we will face it…as a team.” Fedifensor bows and calmly walks back into the forest to continue his search.

Verla hands O’ck the bag again. “It’s yours. He means to face the wrath of the planes on his own, with or without our help? You trust these companions to not… betray you?” As she says this, there is a brief flash of pain in her countenance. “I hope your travels are full of success, my friend.” She gives O’ck a quick hug and then disapears in a flash of light.

I caught up to the party. They’d left me back there…asleep in my bed. I had to jog the whole time to catch up…then swim to an island. I got out a notepad as soon as they said they’d need someone to take notes.

The island appeared to be 60’-70’ in diameter. There is a small clearing in the south and graves everywhere marked by fetishes in a style I’m not familiar with. I was told it was similar to Voodoo…whatever that is.

Six graves appeared to have been tampered with. Sagging as if collapsed below. Six graves empty. Not marked with names…just fetishes. O’ck’s questions seem to be well thought out for his usual half-orc.

I’d deduced the bodies were taken, which turned out to be the case.

We found a camp that hadn’t been used in a while since the campfire wasn’t emanating heat. A water skin, fireplace, trail rations, and glass vial. Dried remains of a green substance that smelled like carrots was in the vial. It was a small camp, suitable for one person. Kendra determined the substance is not a potion but a dark-vision extract that would allow an alchemist low-light vision.

Kendra’s ability to determine potions proved valuable as she bragged to the cleric saying she’s not just all looks. Golems have dark vision…they don’t need to see the vial to see in the dark.

I found something hidden in the trees along the s/w shore of the island a coracle (small row boat hidden in the brush dry blood on the bottom of it). An oar a moldy travel bag and an artesian outfit were laying inside of the boat. A horrifying object…a detached human face carefully cut as if to be used as a mask. A length of rope is attached from the boat to an anchor of some sort.

O’ck and Fedifensor pull it up. A large sack at the end of the rope has dried blood in it and inside the sack is a gag, rope, a rusted lantern, a trio of heavy knives, and a rusted shovel.

The cleric also found a set of silver tools bound in a leather kit, which was identified as a surgical tool set used by surgeons and I noticed a Small symbol on the handle depicting a raven. We found the island was searched by us at this point.

We discussed our next move and assumptions based on who this stuff belonged to. We head back to the village and on the way meet up with the man that rented us the river boat. Fedifensor seems to not be too fond of him because of having to use money to borrow his boat. I think he sometimes worries too much about gold…thrifty spender? We asked him if they have any doctors, trying to figure out if someone he knows is the owner of the medical kit. The man spit a lot while replying and explained that they rarely get sick…called us city slickers. I facepalmed when I heard that this simpleton is going to be testifying at court. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whispered under my breath. We asked him a lot of questions but didn’t seem to get much help from him.

Fedifensor offered to sell the boat we found on the island, trying to make up for his precious lost gold earlier. O’ck showed the man some the dragon wings. From what the party was mentioning to him, apparently they had killed a Manticore mother and baby earlier; seems like I missed out on the fun.

We showed him the tools and he said they were fancy but otherwise didn’t seem to know anything about them. Not impressed by anything. Said there might be undead out there. He told us about a gator that tore into something fierce and there was swearing. A swearing monster…from what the party described about it, it didn’t seem to have the brain power to swear like the man said it did. The Moon was behind the beast during the attack so we can’t even be sure what the gator attacked was the beast based on his description.

We showed him the human face and he jumped back in shock. That’s the face of Nan Klebem he said. A poacher that they hadn’t seen in the village for a year…which was around the same time the beast supposedly started its attack. She was a poacher of average height. Hunting swamp creatures…she skinned gators.

We got everything we could from the man and then we went to go to the alchemist/herbalist to see if there was poison on the surgical tools.

Lepidstadt University had about 20 artisans working locally. Surgeons flat is the location that they go to show the symbol to them and we find the raven marker is used by Brasslove Aura and Sons in the tiny alley. We had an hour left and we met someone at the artisan makers mentioned above. He asked us if we were there for tools. Vladka Kosteel is who he said he sold the tools to. She was said to be wearing a swan necklace and she worked for an auction house. We left for the courthouse after that due to the time restraint and we got ready for the trial.

Barrister Gustav Kaple, the monster’s defender, was waiting for us and we showed him the evidence and information for submittal to the clerk. Fedifensor hadn’t fought anything and he was itching for a battle but we waited to watch the trial and decide to help defend the beast alongside Gustav.

From what we find out at the court house in regards to cases, majority verdict is acceptable. The 80 year old judge was presiding. A Holy Sister of justice wore a grey hood, essentially she was a priestess watches for spell casting. The Herald of the Court is the bailiff type role held by an intimidating-appearing knight.

Knight court prosecution and defense. The place is packed as a group around the beast as he is led into the court. He’s forced into a chair while bound in shackles and the judge is prosecution Otto Jahara. The Trial is fast paced but long winded as the defense attorney is jeered and booed by the crowd.
An hour and a half later, Gustav called his witnesses. Our cleric was called to the stand. I was hoping she knew what she was doing. I crossed my fingers, glad it was not me.

The first piece of evidence was the graves being robbed or bodies missing.
We concluded that the potion belongs to an alchemist…it was made only for an alchemist to use. The beast would not need a potion to see in the dark nor is it an alchemist. We convinced the court of the importance of this piece of evidence.

The poacher’s face is determined to have been removed from the poacher in such a way that it could be used as a mask. The crowd booed at this new revelation. The court adjourned until tomorrow as the beast was led away to the booing crowd. The attorney said we were awesome. Herdstad will be talking about the murders next.

2:00 pm. We had 8 hours. Most businesses (auction house included) are open until 6:00 pm.

We head out to investigate the murders. It’s a fallen farming village that’s gone to ruin. The crops had overgrown resulting in poor visibility. We could see that the village farmhouses were in disrepair as we get closer.

The party heard a snap as Jorilean’s leg gets caught in something, a huge bear trap that caught around her leg, the armor saving her a bit
.
It took a while for everyone to get her free and out of the bear trap.

We happened upon what appeared to be a discarded scarecrow in the distance. As we got closer, we found it was a man, or rather, the remains of a man stuck in a bear trap. We checked his pockets for contents.

I got a thieving device kit of some sort to help me disarm devices, something that would have been able to help a few minutes ago. We saw a tangle of willow trees scarred by fire. Using my keen ninja eyes, I found the remnants of some poetry book in the ashes of the fire.

Jorilean heard the voice of a child in the distance and we headed in that direction.
We also detected evil in an area along the way. Jorilean saw that the graves of the 6 murdered children were in the church yard cemetery. Four of the children’s graves were empty…we assumed the bodies were never discovered. Somehow it made me hope that the children were still alive.

We jotted down the six children’s names written on the graves. Elsa, the monster’s friend was buried there…the one that the monster had brought into town when he was seeking assistance for her. Karen was also buried. Allen, Gaard, Rachel and Martine’s graves were empty. Someone in the party recalled the beast saying he was hanging out with a girl here.

The monster found the body at the lake with a supposed ghost.

Jorilean spotted, about a hundred feet away, in the side of a hill, a cave that was concealed with foliage. We headed toward the cave.

We found Brother Swarm.
We heard a snap as O’ck got stuck in a bear trap around his ankle.

We see a Wraith spawn. I free O’ck from the trap using my new disable device kit…after the 2nd attempt. :/

We beat and attack the children that are trying to attack us. Brother Swarm appeared behind Kendra suddenly.

The confused children spirits were running amock giving an attack of opportunity to Fedifensor. We nearly got owned but Fedifensor was feigning going down. I sliced into the kid without showing emotion when someone suddenly steals my kill. _ Oh, it is on now. I go into a ninja rage but don’t really do much else for the fight.

After finally killing the six ghosts of the children we search the cave for loot but don’t find much else other than the four missing children’s’ bodies. Their spirits should return to their proper places and Kendra casts a spell to bring the dead back to life. O’ck is suggesting we do it in court. >.>

Bodies were found in a cave and we fought the wraith that killed the children, based on the Beast’s testimony. Speaking to the dead is a legitimate form of testimony. Kendra raises Rachel, one of the children from the dead and the girl’s soft voice replies and sits upright facing the party.

They asked her a bunch of questions and she replied to the one as to what or who killed her. She heard Martine called for her to play with him on the hill with dark eyes moving and blanketed arms killed her.

Kendra held up one finger, indicating we have one more question. We discover Elsa is her friend. Kendra reminds us the village isn’t particularly religious…and there may be some influence having heard the testimony from the witness’ lips first hand.

O’ck digs up Elsa, once again to the chagrin of Fedifensor and the rest of the party explores the buildings in the village.

Karen’s bedroom has an Unmarked window shuts from the inside with a stout latch, 15 feet off the ground on the 2nd floor. 7 months ago is when the monster attacked here.

O’ck and Kendra go to the courthouse to check on the names of the witnesses and hand over Elsa’s body for evidence along with testimony.

We went to the inn and questioned the innkeeper where the survivors from the farming community are staying. The priestess flaunts her stuff at the innkeeper and we find their room 12 to see some ladies in their late 40s from the community.

Garo Starley and Flitch were their names. She starts to defend the honor of Lepidstadt. We interview them…the priestess seemed a bit unsure of what to say apparently. They mentioned a ghost. The beast walked in with Elza dead in his hands. They recalled the huge beast laughing maniacally. I shudder at the thought said Fletch. As soon as the men saw the dead body they chased him with pitchforks. Jorilean explained to the ladies the idea of wraiths and explains to them as the creature. The priestess can’t convince them otherwise and we don’t get much information from them.

They weren’t able to figure out that the children. Karen died in her bed two days after the beast was driven away in her bed. A mark was on her. Mark on her was consistent with a wraith. No evidence of a struggle. We know for sure she wasn’t killed by the beast.

Fedifensor intensely intimidates the barkeep to learn which of the merchants the woman we’re looking for that wears the swan works for.